Can You Tell Poetry Lines from Rap Lyrics?

While we at the Riot take some time off to rest and catch up on our reading, we’re re-running some of our favorite posts from the last several months. Enjoy our highlight reel, and we’ll be back with new stuff on Monday, January 6th.

This post originally ran September 23, 2013._________________________

Can you tell the difference between poetry and rap? We took 20 quotes — half from poets in the Norton Anthology of Poetry, the other half from RIAA-certified rap recordings — and now it’s your turn to see if you can tell which are poetry lines and which are rap lyrics.

Of course, “poetry” and “rap” aren’t mutually exclusive, but we thought it would be fun to see if you could spot which ones are Norton Anthology material and which ones you’ve shaken your booty to on the radio. Bonus points if you can name the source of each quote: claim them at your next dinner party, and then try to stump your friends.

Scroll down to the bottom of the post when you’re ready to see the answers, and good luck!

POETRY or RAP? “Remember we were so young / When I would hold you / Before the blood on the leaves”